


Flarp Beginnings

by catalyticGenesis



Series: Skaian Dreamers [4]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: FLARP, Humanstuck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-21
Updated: 2014-02-21
Packaged: 2018-01-13 07:58:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1218577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/catalyticGenesis/pseuds/catalyticGenesis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rose's friends are trying to get her to play a game they all love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Flarp Beginnings

arachnidsGrip [AG] opened memo on board Team Scourge at 06:12

AG: Guys, we’ve got a new member on our team. We can finally particip8 in the normal sessions, not the three-on-three sessions we were stuck with 8efore. 

AG: Where is everyone?

AG: Are you all away from your computers?

AG: Seriously?

apocalypseArisen [AA] responded to memo at 06:23

AA: i was setting up an0ther scenari0 but i guess thats n0t imp0rtant n0w cause it was specifically f0r three 0n three

AG: Okay, Aradia’s here. Where’s Terezi? 

AA: i believe she was pestering s0llux ab0ut hacking int0 the pr0gram s0 she c0uld have drag0ns

gallowsCalibrator [GC] responded to memo at 06:27

GC: H3 S41D NO

AG: Guys, there was an announcement here. I think it may have died from all the stupidity.

AG: I said we had a new mem8er, 8ut you don’t seem interested. 

AG: No comments?

arachnidsGrip [AG] invited tentacleTherapist [TT] to memo at 06:36

tentacleTherapist [TT] responded to memo

TT: Hello, all of you crazy people. I was informed by Vriska that there was this game I ‘a8solutely must play’. I was led to the conclusion you were one player short of a team.

GC: Y34H, PR3TTY MUCH

AA: the three player games are harder t0 find 0pp0nents f0r anyways

TT: Well, since I have been roped into playing, does anyone care to explain exactly what we’re playing?

AG: I’ll step in here; take this to a private chat to explain everything.

arachnidsGrip [AG] and tentacleTherapist [TT] ceased responding to memo at 06:42

 

arachnidsGrip [AG] began pestering tentacleTherapist [TT]

AG: The game’s called FLARP.

AG: Fatal Live Action Role-play.

AG: Which is kind of ironic, considering that it’s entirely computer-8ased.

TT: If you told either of my brothers that, they’d be on in a heartbeat. A fairly interesting game with an ironic name, what’s not to like?

AG: Well, yeah, I think they might already 8e playing.

TT: And what makes you assume this? 

AG: A team called ‘Striding Striders’ has occasionally popped up on my radar, one player is a fairy, and the other is a furry. Presuma8ly an ironic species choice.

TT: Yeah, that’s them. I was wondering why Dave and Dirk were so often engrossed in whatever ironic website they were on, and why they needed special headsets for this. 

AG: Well, never mind your 8rothers and their silly session. 

AG: Actually, you might get a 8etter explanation of the 8asics 8y heading over to the wiki.

AG: http://flarpingadventures.wikia.com/wiki/FLARP_basics

TT: Impressive, you even left your strange quirk out of it. You must really want me to play.

AG: http://flarpingadventures.wikia.com/wiki/FLARP_8asics

AG: 8etter now?

TT: It was perfectly fine the first time, no need to go add any eights.

tentacleTherapist [TT] is now an idle chum!

arachnidsGrip [AG] ceased pestering tentacleTherapist [TT]

 

Rose looked though the articles, immediately interested. The basis of the game seemed simple enough, common enough, but it seemed to have a better execution than most. There were a multitude of classes to choose from, many more aspects to pick from, and the species list was longer than one of Rose’s ‘short’ stories. There was an extravagant plot to play through, although it seemed most players chose open combat instead. Team Scourge, her friends’ team, was listed as one of the top teams for open combat and the narrative adventure. There was even the option to create your own storyline, narrating as people played through your adventure. Team Scourge was famous for having the best scenarios, as any of their members acting as ‘clouders’ could easily throw a realistic and completely unexpected plot twist at any given moment. As she skimmed through the article on gameplay, she noticed a surprising lack of information on the controls. It had the basic information, up down left right arrows for walking, spacebar for checking inventory, some other things, but nothing detailed. She’d figure it all out in her own time.

 

tentacleTherapist [TT] responded to memo at 06:59

TT: I’m back, and yes, I will join your team.

AA: g00d we really needed a f0urth player

AA: since every0ne else vanished ill walk y0u thr0ugh j0ining

AA: are y0u 0n the website

TT: Yes.

AA: 0kay d0wnl0ad the pr0gram

AA: if y0u set it up right we can c0ntinure 0ur c0nversati0n in-game

TT: Downloading, one hour left.

AA: the pr0gram is a big fat liar

AA: itll take y0u fifteen minutes at m0st

TT: It would usually be almost instant download, as my mother works at a job where she needs ridiculously fast internet, but I believe the rest of my family is playing now, which clogs it up.

AA: 0kay y0u g0t it d0wnl0aded by n0w right

AA: s0 0pen the pr0gram

AA: hit ‘j0in sessi0n in pr0gress’

AA: Team Scourge g0es in the team name b0x

AA: and 0ur passw0rd is t1ckt0ck8r8kh34ds 

AA: silly pass i kn0w

TT: I’m in.

AA: im sure y0u already have an appr0priate headset f0r this

AA: click ‘j0in gr0up chat’

AA: enter my chumhandle

AA: ta da 0pen chat

apocalypseArisen [AA] ceased responding to memo at 07:07

 

Rose joined the group chat, surprised at Aradia’s immediate response.

“There, see, now you can properly join.”

Rose stated clicking through the character creator screen, impressed by the options.

“First, you need a cool title. Since I know Vriska’s listening, she can interject now.” 

Another name showed up in group chat, arachnidsGrip. Rose listened for Vriska, waiting to hear her comments on this.  
“Yeah, we’ve all got cool titles. I’m Marquise Mindfang, Terezi’s Redglare, and Aradia’s Demoness.”

She typed a name into the box, waiting for her friends’ approval.

“Sorceress? Actually pretty good, and my quick scan says no one else has that name. I mean, it’s nowhere near as good as mine, because nothing rivals Mindfang, but it’s good anyways.”

“Shut up, you and your big ego. Just when I though it wasn’t physically possible for your ego to get any bigger without your head exploding, it did.” A new voice came through the headphones, Rose decided it was probably Terezi commenting. Somehow, her chat name, gallowsCalibrator, showed up after she responded.

“Can I just get on with this without you arguing loudly into my ears?” Rose asked, selecting a few more options before yelling at her friends again.

“There’s this magical button, it does magical things such as shut us up, and it’s really magical.”

“Well then, Vriska, could you be so kind to tell us the name of this wonderful button?”

“It’s called Mute Speakers, Lalonde.”

She found another, easier way. She went into the group chat, and removed arachnidsGrip and gallowsCalibrator from the chat, leaving only apocalypseArisen.

“What species are you going to choose? I’m assuming spell-caster or magician, though there are many others that would work.”

“I’m going with the base of spell-caster. Just to ask, what did you choose?”

“I chose fairy. I had been reading how they’re basically useless, only good to huge groups where status-effects will be useful. Me and Vriska decided to prove everyone wrong. Terezi went with dragon-human hybrid.”

“I noticed that in your password, it had all of your typing quirks. There was one I didn’t recognize. Who would that be?”

“Tavros.” There was a long pause before she spoke again. “We all played together for a while, but him and Vriska, they just couldn’t get along. He eventually left, and we were short one teammate.”

Rose stayed silent, finishing up her character. 

“And our friendship just fell apart. I was hanging out with Vriska and Terezi too much, and he wasn’t comfortable around them, and we never talked, and then we broke apart. It sucked.”

“I’m not even going to comment on that, I don’t think anything I could say would make you feel any better about that.”

“Well, you finished your character, now you can start playing. Since everyone’s on, I’ll set the handicap up, and we can play through the story until you hit the same level as us.”

Both arachnidsGrip and gallowsCalibrator joined the chat again, and the story began on chapter zero.

“For the record, I don’t know why it starts on level zero. I peg it on one of the system’s unusual abnormalities.”

“You don’t need to use both words, they mean the same thing.”

“Yeah, one’s just an adjective and the other’s a noun.”

“Megido, you just said abnormal abnormalities.”

“So? You’re about to get eaten by an oversized flytrap.”

“Oh shit! Why didn’t anyone tell me before?” 

“Where’s my weapon?”

“I don’t know, the Fluorite Octet is missing as well.”

Rose sighed, hitting pause. “You have the handicap on. You can’t use your special weapons until you work your way back up to them. Sorry, you’ll just be leveling up at the same rate I do until I work my way to where you are.”

“You suuuuuuuuck, Lalonde.”

~

“Rose. Hey Rose. You’ve been in there for well over three hours. What are you even doing?”

“Shush, Dave. I’m doing something interesting, and before you ask, I don’t have homework to be doing. It’s the weekend.”

“It’s eight in the morning on Friday.”

“Close enough.”

~  
“Rose, you’ve been in there since I got home. That’s at least six hours. I’ve been home an hour longer than you should have been. And yet, you were here when I got home at three. Your school gets out at three, you get home at four. How were you home all day?”

“I skipped school.”

“Perfect little Rose, skip school? For some reason, I don’t believe you.”

“You’ve heard of Aranea’s little sister, right?”

“You’re friends with her?” 

“Yeah, she convinced me it was fine to skip once in a while.”

~

“Rosey, you’ve been in there for seventeen hours. You skipped dinner, dessert, and bedtime. I’m not actually enforcing the bedtime one, but it’s a notable time every night, since our parents forbid us from being downstairs after eleven.”

“Dave sneaks down every night at midnight exactly and gets ice-cream.”

“Rose, it’s not Mom speaking, it’s Roxy.”

“I know.”

~  
“Rose, you are going to go to sleep, right now.”

“Shut up, Roxy.”

“It is Mom this time.”

“Yeah, going to bed.”

~

“Rose, seriously, you gotta go to bed.”

“I’m in bed.”

“You’re on your laptop.”

“Yeah, but I’m in bed.”

~~  
“Aradia. Bedtime now.”

“Damara. Proper English.”

“Aradia, go to bed now.”

“I’m busy.”

“Fine. See if I care when Mom’s home. Tomorrow for the record.”

“The fact that Mom’s going to be home tomorrow doesn’t change the fact that I’m busy.”

“Stupid little bitch.”

“You’re a stupid little bitch.”

~~~~

“Terezi, really, you’re staying up all night staring at your computer screen. That’s gotta hurt your vision.”

“Latula, I don’t think it’s physically possible for my vision to get any worse. It’s already like 20/200 something; I don’t think it can get much worse. I can’t see the big F on the chart.”

“That big F’s not an F, it’s an E.”

“Your point being?”

~~~~~~~~

“Vriska, if you don’t go to sleep right now, I’m pulling the plug on your computer.”

“Aranea, if you don’t stop pestering me right now, I’m showing Mom all of your writing.”

“I’m leaving to go write now.”

“That’s what I thought.”

~

On Monday, four students decided that hey, skipping school in favor of sleep isn’t such a bad idea.

 

arachnidsGrip [AG] opened memo on board Team Scourge at 09:28

AG: Can I say that was the worst idea ever?

tentacleTherapist [TT] responded to memo at 09:3

TT: Yeah, but I’m all caught up to where you guys are. We can continue in the story at normal pace or participate in open combat.

gallowsCalibrator [GC] responded to memo at 09:34

GC: C4N 1 B3 TH3 F1RST TO S4Y TH4T W4S PR3TTY 4W3SOM3?

TT: Pretty awesome is an understatement. 

AG: Does anyone know where Aradia is?

AG: She’s been unusually quiet.

TT: Do I see something missing?

AG: *8een

apocalypseArisen [AA] responded to memo at 09:37

AA: m here

AA: really tired

AA: sisters been bothering me

AA: i feel like somethings missing but i cant quite place it

TT: try 0

AA: seems ab0ut right

TT: And I have solved a mystery that didn’t really need solving.

TT: your quirks are something you do consciously, not anything set into your keyboard.

AA: actually mines semi aut0matic

AA: i tested s0mething 0ut

AA: by rem0ving the ‘o’ key fr0m my keyb0ard

AA: its much easier t0 ty-e with 0 n0w

TT: you used o earlier.

AA: well yeah i can still hit the o key 

AA: it just feels different and ive g0tten used t0 hitting 0 instead

GC: WH4TS 4 TY-3?

AA: its a type not a ty-e

AA: a ty-e is a silly mistake

TT: Vriska’s been uncharacteristically quiet. Is she still here?

GC: 1 C4NNOT 3V3N B3G1N TO F4THOM WHO TH4T 1S

AG: It’s just Aranea.

GC: OH, OK4Y

GC: NO ON3 1MPORT4NT

AG: Hey, I resent that comment.

GC: TH4TS N1C3, WHY DONT YOU B4N YOURS3LF OR SOM3TH1NG US3FUL

AG: Why don’t I? May8e 8ecause I don’t feel like leaving?

tentacleTherapist [TT] has hacked the memo!

tentacleTherapist [TT] banned arachnidsGrip [AG] from responding to memo

AA: whered y0u learn t0 hack int0 stuff

TT: Roxy. She had nothing better to do, and I was bored, so she gave be basic hacking and general coding info. Mainly for Pesterchum, so no, I can’t hack you dragons.

GC: 4444WWWW

GC: 1 R34LLY W4NT TO B3 4BL3 TO US3 DR4GONS

GC: 1 L1K3 DR4GONS, TH3YR3 COOL

GC: WHY WOULD SH3 L1K3 TO KNOW?

TT: So she can find them and burn the factory to the ground.

TT: Really, she despises those shirts, and frequently goes into long rants about them.

TT: You should really just ask her about making you less ugly shirts, I’m sure she’d be ecstatic to comply. 

GC: OK4Y, NOT3D, 4SK K4N4Y4 ABOUT L3SS UGLY SH1RTS

GC: 1 TH1NK 1M GO1NG TO B3D NOW

TT: Wait; remember to sign out first…never mind.

GC: y34h sh3s sound 4sl33p slump3d ov3r h3r k3yboard

GC: 1ts k1nd4 cut3 1n 4ll 4ctu4l1ty

gallowsCalibrator [GC] ceased responding to memo

AA: im g0ing t0 sleep

AA: like right n00000whmt

TT: Really, you need to sign out before leaving.

AA: Signing out for little bitch.

TT: I’m assuming that’s some sort of strange affectionate name for her, so I’m not questioning it.

AA: You go sleep too. Over sixty-nine hours without good sleep.

AA: Littler Lalonde. Your sister says you don’t have enough sleep. 

TT: Yes, I know, I need sleep. 

apocalypseArisen [AA] ceased responding to memo

tentacleTherapist [TT] ceased responding to memo


End file.
